Strangely Dim

It’s odd that I am a minister – a bit of that Divine comedy of which we spoke about a day or two ago. I loathed the preaching portion of the service as a child. I thought it tedious and protracted, much like sitting in class at Mark Twain Elementary on a gorgeous spring day. Mrs. Hahn, my one-eyed, third-grade teacher knew what she was about. All of our desks were pointed away from the windows with our eyes directed on that one “Lord of the Rings” eye… and, her extraordinary beehive. The one eye was more than sufficient to see the back of my head as I turned to gaze with pleasure at the world that beckoned. The punishment for taking a peek at God’s good creation involved dragging one’s desk out into the hallway and sitting there for awhile to ponder and mourn the offense. I didn’t mind. Our classroom was near the large, mostly glass exit door. I just kept sinning away.

Church wasn’t all bad. Prior to the preaching there was the singing. I enjoyed the singing. Moreover, I was blessed to be part of a church that had morphed from a handful of polite, earnest souls, sawing away at the hymns to a roaring congregation of African-American students from the local University. They arrived en masse one autumn Sunday and showed us how it was to be done. They stayed. A friendly coup. I’ve been forever grateful.

There was an old hymn that I fondly recall that they introduced to us, the chorus of which went as follows:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

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It’s a pity that hymn was written in 1922 instead of the first decade A.D. It would have been handy for Peter to have been humming it as he stepped out of the boat. If you just keep looking at His wonderful face then the things of earth – like howling winds and bellicose waves – will grow strangely dim. Just like the song says. But he wasn’t carrying a tune about in his apostolic head:  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

I’m not one to judge Peter. Any who’ve attempted to follow Christ have had a similar start and stop experience. During those stops our problems, our fears and our worries were not strangely dim – they were 3-D and stereophonic. Peter, as Jesus mentioned, demonstrated a lack of faith. But Peter also wised up, and that quickly, as he felt himself plummeting to the inky depths. I admire the pluck it took to give it a go. I identify with his failure. And, I learn from his speedy homecoming to the exemplar of water walking – our Lord Jesus.